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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
Then Jesus went through
the towns and villages, teaching as He made His way to Jerusalem. Someone asked
him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, “Make
every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will
try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and
closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the
door for us.’”
“But he will answer, ‘I
don’t know you or where you come from.’”
“Then you will say, ‘We
ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’”
“But he will reply, ‘I
don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’”
“There will be weeping
there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the
prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come
from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast
in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first,
and first who will be last.”
Luke 13:22-30
This ends
today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
When the door to
eternity opens, will you be able to enter in?
It’s the key question at
the heart of today’s devotion and the key question everyone should be
considering in regard to their lives. That is of course, unless someone wants
to spend forever in torment and damnation.
One thing is for sure,
it’s going to be one way or another. There is not going to be any middle
ground.
Jesus is going to return
and on that day, all people are going to be judged, dead or alive. Some are
going to enter into glory with God and Jesus forever. The rest are going into
hell and abide everlastingly there.
So how does one come to
God whenever they are a sinner and God hates sin?
Only through someone who
has already paid they judgment tab and there’s only One who has done that and
His name is Jesus. Look at His words here:
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me.” John 14:6
No one can get to God
the Father except through Jesus.
Accept Him as Savior and
you will find your way to salvation.
Reject Him and you have
punched your ticket to damnation.
Jesus also said this
about Himself:
“I am the Gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved.” John 10:9
Put this together with the
following teaching Jesus gave during the Sermon on the Mount:
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the
road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the
gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew
7:13-14
Here’s what this tells
us.
There is only one way to
God, only one way to eternal life, and that way is Jesus. Think of how many
people there are in the world and then think about this again. Only one of just
under 7.5 billion can get you to salvation.
That’s a narrow gate to
go through and exactly what Jesus is getting at. There is only one real way to everlasting
life and unfortunately, few are going to go that route. Not many will go
through the narrow gate, Jesus, and so not many will be saved.
It’s going to be a sad
outcome of judgment day when Jesus comes back. People who may have thought they
were going to experience salvation will find damnation instead because they had
not placed their belief in Jesus as Savior (John 3:16). They thought they had
entered through the narrow gate but the truth of the matter was that they were
really on the broad road to destruction. Unfortunately, many are going to
suffer this fate.
Will it be you?
I pray it won’t be. It’s
one reason why the Lord wants me to write this message today. He does not wish
for any of His beloved to perish. It’s why He surrendered His only Son Jesus as
a sin sacrifice, atonement for all, once and for all. Through Jesus, everyone
had an opportunity for everlasting life and the chance to love forever. All
they had to do is commit with their hearts, minds, and souls.
Sadly, Jesus predicts
there will be many who will rebuff this invitation. Let’s not look at our
verses for today from Luke 13:
Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as He made His
way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be
saved?”
He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door,
because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the
owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking
and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’”
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’”
“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our
streets.’”
“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from
me, all you evildoers!’”
“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you
yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south,
and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are
those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” Luke 13:22-30
We’re not told Jesus’
exact location here but we do know He was on His way to Jerusalem. Along the
way, He had stopped to teach when someone who was in His company asked:
“Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
As we see, Jesus remains
consistent to His other teachings on this matter, replying to all who were
listening:
“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I
tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the
house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and
pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’”
Note here that Jesus is
foretelling what is to come. When He returns, the narrow door will be opened
and only those who find their names in the book of life (i.e. those who
believed in Jesus as Savior) will be allowed to enter into salvation. Once all
who authorized to enter the new kingdom of God enter, the door will be closed
by the owner of the house (God), and no one else will be permitted to enter.
Those who chose to reject Jesus as Savior will stand outside the door knocking
and pleading to be allowed in. Reality will set in that they are heading to
hell instead of the new heaven and earth but it will be too late.
Entry will not be
granted and those desperately trying to gain entry will hear God say to them:
“I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you
evildoers!”
Could anything be worse
that be utterly abandoned by God?
That’s only part of what
is going to make judgment day the worst day ever for anyone who rejected Jesus.
They had abandoned God’s invitation to join Him forever through Jesus His Son
and so now they would feel what eternal abandonment would feel like. While the
faithful ones of God and Jesus were rejoicing and praising their new lives,
lives free of pain and affliction and heartbreak and sin, those not in Christ
will experience weeping and gnashing of teeth watching others receive the gift
of salvation and take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God that they
chose to pass up.
So what will it be for
you today?
If you have received
Jesus as Savior, today’s message is a reminder of the blessed assurance all
Christians have through Christ. Eternal hope is there’s as well as the
guarantee that they will be victorious over death and the grave and sin.
If you have decided
Jesus isn’t important in your life and have pushed Him aside, I implore you
today to reconsider that decision. For damnation waits unless you accept Jesus
as Savior this very moment. You are on the wide path of destruction but you don’t
have to stay there.
Enter through the narrow
gate today, commit yourself to the One who is the way and the truth and the
life, and find your only way to God the Father and that is through the Son.
It’s the only way you
will be able to answer the question, “Will you be able to enter into eternal
life?” by declaring an absolutely confident, “Yes!”
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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